Yep. Power's up 13bhp to 181bhp, torque's grown to 280lb ft, and weight's down to 1377kg.

Crumbs. So it's pretty fruity to drive?

VW has done a ton of chassis work to distinguish it from the rest of the Golf-shaped oil-burners - the suspension's been lowered and stiffened, VW's I Can't Believe it's not a Limited-Slip Diff' XDS traction control is on all four wheels (it's usually just the fronts, though this is still just a front-wheel driver), the petrol GTI's variable-ratio electro-magnetic quick steering setup's been fitted, optional ACC adaptive dampers, and you get big brakes. But all that lot still doesn't make it fruity. Confident, wieldy, engaging - definitely. But it does lack the hand-down-your-pants sauciness of, say, a Focus ST.

Engine sounds good though.

Yeah, literally - now you can option a Sport and Sound package that synthetically beefs up the motor's rumblings. Which sounds appalling, but the noise fails to form even a nodding acquaintance with what we associate with diesels - the baritone thumps are really, genuinely appealing.

The 2.0-litre turbo delivers a nice whumpf of torque swiftly, and doesn't flatten out till 3,800rpm. It's bloomin' refined too, and not just for a high performance diesel - at idle there's barely any ticking, and when it's not in Sport mode it feels meticulously composed. Especially considering that MPG figure. But you should take it with a pinch of salt - 50mpg is probably more realistic.

Yes, that's because it's a remarkably good car. But there's a fly in the ointment - one number we neglected to mention. The price... It costs £25,285, which is about right for this sort of thing. But you can get a Seat Leon FR diesel, which shares its MQB platform, does 65.7mpg, 0-62mph in 7.5 sec, and 112g/km for £22,375.